Following the Charleston shootings in June of 2015, many Southern cities and towns elected to remove symbols of the Confederacy from public buildings. Hillsborough, North Carolina removed the words “Confederate memorial” from a town museum in July 2015, and sparked a debate among citizens. As a result, the town’s Board of Commissioners elections became a single-issue debate about whether to protect Hillsborough’s Confederate legacy or not.

An incident during the NC Pride Parade in September 2015 brought to light the discrimination of black people who identify as LGBTQ. Laila Nur claims that a Pride affiliate assaulted her while she was speaking during the parade. Nur and others marched in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, but the forcible silencing of Nur reveals fractures in the LGBTQ community.

In the past, the N. C. State Fair allocated $350,000 to book bands from across the country for evening concerts in Dorton Arena. Between 2011 and 2014, the state fair lost nearly $900,000 with this strategy. In 2015, fair officials chose to recruit North Carolina bands, a tactic that saved money and appealed to fair attendees.